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passable every where for horse and foot; Beresford formed his army in two lines nearly parallel to the Albuhera, and on the ridge of the gradual ascent from its banks, covering the roads to Badajoz and Valverde; General Blake's corps was on the right in two lines; its left on the Valverde road joined the right of Major-General Stewart's division, the left of which reached the Badajoz road, and there Major-General Hamilton's division closed the left of the line. General Cole's division, with one brigade of General Hamilton's, formed the second line. The allied force consisted of 8000 British, 7000 Portugueze, and 10,000 Spaniards; hardly two thousand of these were cavalry. Soult had drawn troops from the armies of Victor and Sebastiani, and left Seville with 16,000 men; Latour Maubourg joined him with five or six thousand; but he had a very superior cavalry, not less than 4000, and his artillery also was superior. He had the greater advantage of commanding troops who were all in the highest possible state of discipline, and whom long habits had formed into one army, of whatever nation the troops were composed, whereas the allied force consisted of the troops of three different nations; the Portugueze indeed disciplined by British officers, but one third of the army not understand ing, or understanding imperfectly, the language of the other two.

Soult did not know that May 16. Blake had joined during the night, and thought to anticipate the junction by attacking the right of the allies, thus throwing himself upon their line of communication, when the possession of the rising ground would decide the battle. At eight in the morning his troops were observed in motion; his cavalry crossed the Ferdia, and formed under cover of the wood in the fork between the two rivulets. A strong force of cavalry,

with two heavy columns of infantry, then marched out of the wood, pointing toward the front of the allied position, as if to attack the village and bridge of Albuhera; while, at the same time, under protection of that superior cavalry which in such a country gave them command of the field, their infantry filed over the river be yond the right of the allies. Their intention to turn the allies by that flank, and cut them off from Valverde, was now apparent; upon which Marshal Beresford ordered General Cole's division to form an oblique line to the rear of the right, with his own right thrown back, and requested Blake to form part of his first line and all his second to that front.

While the French General Godinot made a false attack upon Albuhera, Soult, with the rest of the army, bore on the right wing of the allies. The attack began at nine o'clock; a heavy storm of rain came on about the same time, as favourable to the French, who had formed their plan, and consequently arranged their movements, as it was disadvantageous for the allies, whose measures were to be adapted to meet those of the enemy. After a strong and gallant resistance, the Spaniards were forced from the heights, and the enemy set up a shout of triumph which was heard from one end of the line to the other; their exultation was not without good cause, for the heights which they had gained raked and entirely commanded the whole position. The Spaniards to a man displayed the utmost courage; but their want of discipline was felt, and the danger of throwing them into confusion whenever change of position was necessary; a great error therefore was committed in giving them that precise station upon which the fate of the whole army depended. They rallied at the bottom of the hill, turned upon the enemy, withstood them, while Lieutenant-Co

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lonel Colbourne brought up the right brigade of General Stewart's division, to endeavour to retake the ground which had been lost. Finding that they could not shake the enemy's column by their fire, they proceeded to attack it with the bayonet; but while in the act of charging, they were themselves suddenly turned and attacked in the rear by a body of Polish lancers: these men carry long lances with a red flag suspended at the end, which, while it is so carried by the rider as to prevent his own horse from seeing any other object, frightens those horses who are opposed to them. Never was any charge more unexpected, or more destructive; the rain, which thickened the whole atmosphere, partly concealed them; and those of the brigade who saw them approaching, mistook them for Spanish cavalry, and therefore did not fire. A tremendous slaughter was made upon the troops who were thus surprised; and the loss would have been still greater, if these Poles, instead of pursuing their advantage, had not given way to their ferocious nature, and ridden about the field to spear the wounded. The three regiments of Colonel Colbourne's brigrade lost their colours at this time; those of the Buffs were recovered, after signal heroism had been displayed in. their defence. Ensign Thomas, who bore one of the flags, was surrounded, and asked to give them up. Not but with my life! was his answer, and his life was the instant forfeit; but the standard thus taken was recovered, and the manner in which it was defended will not be forgotten when it is borne again to battle. Ensign Walsh, who carried the other colour, had the staff broken in his hand by a cannon ball, and fell at the same moment, being severely wounded; but, more anxious about his precious charge than himself, he separated the flag from the shattered staff, and secured it in his bosom,

from whence he produced it when his wounds were dressed after the battle.

The 31st regiment, being the left of the brigade, was the only one which escaped this charge, and it kept its ground under Major L'Estrange. The fate of the day was at this time worse than doubtful, and nothing but the most determined and devoted courage saved the allies from a defeat, of which the consequences would have been even more deplorable than the immediate slaughter. The third brigade under Major General Houghton, and General Cole's division, advanced to recover the lost heights, their officers declaring that they would win the field or die. Houghton and Sir William Myers fell, each leading on his brigade. The fu zileers brigade, and the Loyal Lusita nian legion, 3000 when they advanced to the charge, could not muster one thousand when they had gained the rising ground,—for they did gain it after all this carnage; 2000 men, and 60 officers, including every lieutenant-colonel, and field officer, were either killed or wounded. But the enemy in their turn suffered greater slaughter when they were forced down into the low ground toward the river, our musketry and shrapnells then mowed them down. Soult's great superiority of cavalry enabled him effectually to cover his retreat, and the allies therefore contented themselves with driving him across the Albuhera. The attack upon the village was continued somewhat longer; but the enemy were never able to make any impression there. They retired to the ground which they had occupied before the action, and on the night of the 17th commenced their retreat toward Andalusia.

This was one of the most murderous battles of modern times. The British loss consisted of nearly 900 killed, 2732 wounded, 544 missing; the Portugueze, of whom only a small part were

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brought into action, lost about 400; the Spaniards about 1600. The French left 2000 dead on the field; about 1000 were made prisoners; Generals Werle and Pepin were killed. Soult, in his official dispatch, declared, that his whole loss amounted only to 2800 men; but a letter from General Gazan to Soult was intercepted, wherein he stated that he had more than 4000 wounded under his charge. The heat, he said, would prove very injurious to them, especially as there were only five surgeons to attend them, and had died upon many the road. This letter was written three days after the action, and as the bad cases die in numbers in the course of the few first days, and the mortality must have been greatly increased by want of rest, of accommodation, and of surgical aid, it was inferred, upon sufficient grounds, that the total loss of the enemy could have been little less than 9000 men. Soult is said to have acknowledged to our officers who were made prisoners, that, in the whole course of his long service, he had never before seen so desperate and bloody a conflict. He is said also to have told one of the officers that he intended to exchange all his prisoners on the following morning, and that therefore they had better not attempt to escape. This artifice, for such it was, prevented many from rejoining their victorious brethren while the two armies were near each other many, however, escaped during the two first days, and so many afterwards, that few ultimately remained in his hands. About 300 were put into a convent which had been converted into a prison: they undermined the wall, and escaped with their officers at their head. The peasantry guided them, and supplied them with food on their way, and they rejoined the army in a body on the thirteenth day after the battle. The official dispatch of the French general was, as usual, falsified for the public. Soult there asserted that, ha

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ving gained the height, he was surprised to see so great a number of troops, and that he then first learnt from a prisoner how Blake with 9000 Spaniards had effected a junction during the night. This discovery made him resolve not to pursue his victory, but content himself with keeping the position which had been taken from the enemy, and that position he retained, the enemy, after the carnage which was made among them by Latour Maubourg and the Polish lancers, not having dared to attack him again. The dispatch, however, like other falsehoods of the same kind, carried with it its own confutation; for it stated that the allies made no prisoners except two or three hundred wounded, who were left on the field; but the same dispatch said, that the French kept the field for two days, retaining the posi tion they had won,-how then could the wounded who were left upon the field have fallen into the hands of the allies?

In reality, if Soult could have retained the heights, the allied army must not only have been defeated but destroyed: his superiority in cavalry, which proved his protection in retreat, would have almost ensured their destruction-in a country where cavalry could act to such advantage, where they had an unfordable river in the rear, and the garrison of Badajoz ready to sally upon them in aid of their victorious countrymen. When defeat would have drawn af ter it such consequences, a battle ought not to have been risked; especially as, in order to fight the battle, it was ne cessary to raise the siege of Badajoz. To have continued that siege without interruption was an object for which, perhaps, a battle ought to have been hazarded, if there had been force suffi cient; but as this could not be done, Soult's object was in a great degree accomplished before the action commenced, and a barren and dearly-putchased victory was the only reward of

the imminent danger to which the allies had been exposed. The French had expected so surely to out-number the allies, (not calculating upon the rapidity with which the Spanish troops effected their junction) and consequent ly to overpower them, that Philippon, the governor of Badajoz, had prepared a house for Soult's reception, and given

orders for an illumination.

Few battles have ever given the contending powers so high an opinion of each other. The French are said to have exhibited the highest possible state of discipline on that day: nothing could be more perfect than they were in all their movements; no general could have wished for more excellent instruments, and no soldiers were ever directed by more consummate skill. This was more than counterbalanced by the incomparable bravery of their opponents. The chief loss fell upon the Buffs and the 57th. The first of these regiments went into action with 24 officers and 750 rank and file;there only remained five officers and thirty-four men to draw rations on the following day. Within the little space where the stress of the battle lay, not less than 7000 men were found lying on the ground, and the rain which ran from these heights literally reddened the rivulets with blood. Our dead lay in ranks as they had fought, and every wound was in the front. A captain of the 57th, who was severely wounded, directed his men to lay him on the ground at the head of his company, and thus continued to give his orders, Marshal Beresford saved his life by his dexterity and personal strength: as he was encouraging his troops after the charge of the Polish lancers, one of these men attacked him; avoiding the thrust, he seized the man by the throat, and threw him off his horse; the lancer recovered from his fall to aim a second thrust at him, but at the very moment was shot by one of the general's order

lies. Colonel Sir William Myers, leading on that brigade, which recovered the fortune of the field, exclaimed it would be a glorious day for the fuzileers. In ascending the ground his horse was wounded; another was brought, which he had hardly mounted, when a ball struck him under the hip, and past upward obliquely through the intestines. He did not fall, and attempted to proceed; but this was impossible, and when he was carried off the field, he seemed to forget his own sufferings in his pride at beholding the conduct of his brave companions. A heavy rain was falling, there was no shelter near, and Valverde, where it was thought proper to convey him, was ten miles distant. He would rather have had a tent erected over him; but his servants, hoping that he might recover, insisted upon removing him to a place where a bed might be procu red. The body of General Houghton was borne past him, on a mule, to be interred at Elvas. Upon seeing it, Sir William desired, that if he should die they would bury him on the spot. He lived, however, to reach Valverde, and till the following day. When his dissolution drew near, he desired that his ring might be taken to his sister, and that she might be told he had died like a soldier. Six of his own men bore him to the grave, and laid him under an olive-tree near Valverde. It is to be hoped that a monument will be placed there to mark the spot.

Blake, Castanos, Mendizabal, Ballasteros, Zayas, and Carlos d' Espana, were all in the field, and all distinguished themselves. Blake and Castanos had each an arm grazed, but not hurt. Espana was run through the hand by a lance. Ballasteros is said to have encouraged his men by taking the uniform of a French general from the ground, and holding it up, exclaiming that Soult was killed. In the heat of the action, when the issue of the battle

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appeared most hopeless, many of the Spaniards were heard exclaiming to each other, What will the Conciso say ?-thus stimulating themselves to new exertion by remembering the honour or dishonour which a free press would bestow, according to their deserts. Of three stand of colours which were taken from the enemy, one was presented to the cortes. Sr. Del Monte moved, that it should be deposited in some church dedicated to the Virgin-Mother the patroness of the Spains; but Sr. Garcia Herreros ob3 served, that the hall in which they met would, after the dissolution of the cortes, again be used as a church, and it was therefore decreed that the colours should remain there. It was proposed also, that a pillar should be erected in the plains of Albuhera, and that as the little town of that name had been entirely destroyed, it should be rebuilt by the nation, and exempted from all rates and taxes for ten years.

The main body of the French retired upon Llerena, having their rear-guard at Usagre, where, in a very gallant affair of cavalry, about 150 of their horse were killed, wounded, and taken, with out loss on our part, though they had above three thousand men in the field, and the allies not more than half that number. By this time the 3d and 7th divisions arrived from the frontier of Beira, and Lord Wellington invested Badajoz on the 25th, and broke ground four days afterwards. But our army had no experience in this branch of war; nor was there even a corps of sappers and miners attached to it, so that all those preliminary operations, to which men may be trained at home at leisure and in perfect safety, were here to be learnt under the fire of an enemy, who was as perfect in all the arts of defence as we were deficient in those of attack. On the part of the besieged, courage and the high sense of duty will supply all deficiences of science

and outworks, this had been proved at Zaragoza and Gerona :-but it is one thing to assail stone walls, and another to defend them, and the braver the assailants, the greater and the more lamentable must be their loss, if the necessary skill be wanting. Lord Wellington also was ill supplied with artillery: he trusted to a Portugueze train from Elvas, and it was found insufficient. On the 6th of June, a breach had been made in Fort St Christoval; it was assaulted in the night, and when our troops arrived at the foot of the breach under a very heavy fire of musquetry and hand grenades from the out-works, and of shot and shells from the town, they found that the enemy had cleared the rubbish from the bot tom of the scarp,-and that even an escalade was impracticable. On the 9th the attempt was renewed, and the same errors were repeated, and a still heavier loss was sustained. In the first about 150 men were lost, in the second above 300.

The next morning an intercepted letter from Soult to Marmont was brought to the British general, dated the 5th, and saying that he was ready to begin his march, effect a junction, and complete the object of their wishes. "If they lost no time," he said, "they should reach the scene of action before the English reinforcements arrived, and Badajoz would be saved." By other communications, Lord Wellington knew that Drouet's corps had marched from Toledo, and would probably join Marshal Soult that very day, and that Marmont might be expected at Merida in a few days: for this gene. ral, after having patroled on the 6th unto Fuentes d'Onoro and Navedeaver, as a reconnoisance, and to cover the march of a convoy to Ciudad Rodrigo, began his march the next day to the south, by way of the Puerto de Banos and Placencia, crossing the Tagus at Almaraz, an important point, where the

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